I finally found my niche!

In today’s post, I’ll be talking about something I’ve become so passionate about- finding my niche. A niche is one’s area of expertise, a space one fills in providing certain types of services and to a target audience. This year marks my third year of blogging and I must say, ‘ I wish I had found my niche a lot earlier’. Before starting my own business- M.I.O Prints, I took the opportunity to understand what a ‘niche’ was and the benefits to my brand. A simple result is that we’re almost at 500 followers in less than a year. We have a long way to go but I’m still pleasantly shocked because it took me two years to reach 400 followers with my main Instagram (IG) page (Moulded-inside-out).

There are so many things to be considered in finding one’s niche. I remember when I started blogging, I blogged about food, hair, make-up, lifestyle, travel. I pretty much blogged everything and anything which left my readers confused and not knowing what to identify my brand by. More recently, in engaging on my IG story, posting content I’m most passionate about, focusing on my areas of strength and being true to my values. My brand is becoming more recognisable.

So, what changed??? let’s talk about a few things that have helped

Evaluate your passion

Before starting my own business- M.I.O-Prints, I knew the brand would need to relate with my passion for my roots, my love for vibrant colours and prints. As for my blog- Moulded-inside-out, my passion for living a well-rounded lifestyle, that also reflects my faith and impacts the lives of others in a meaningful way remains and has been the theme of my posts in the last year. I’ve definitely experienced some delayed gratification such as putting travelling off for a while because you guys know I’ve been a student for the longest time! But most importantly, in evaluating my passion, I find joy in running both my business and my blog even when the financial results aren’t equivalent to the hard work that goes in

The market for your niche

Before I started M.I.O-Prints I noticed a gap in the African community here in Ireland and so I grabbed that opportunity in the market and started selling Ankara Bonnets before looking at other products. But with blogging being saturated with a lot of lifestyle bloggers, in marketing your niche or putting your work out there, other factors come into play. This includes recognising yourself as a tool, your personality is so important as it can be perceived in how you write, through your sense of fashion, how you engage on your social media platforms etc. In my previous post, I also mentioned networking and engaging with other bloggers whether online and or in person and also being proactive. I believe these are important factors to take into consideration as it attracts your audience to your brand and keeps them coming back if you will. As for M.I.O-Prints, finding ways of marketing my niche is something I am constantly working on as there are now so many other people doing similar things and so I make it a duty to always strive towards creativity in promoting my work. Remember, your brand goes beyond the logo, it’s the message that stays with people!

Note

I’ll end on this note, being an influencer isn’t an easy task and there are so many factors that come into play. I know the word influencer isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but you don’t have to be a celebrity to be an influencer. So many people go through dark moments in their lives or just need some sort of guidance in their life. The moment you are in a position to make an impact in someone’s life, I believe you are an influencer, the onus is on us then to continue to share our positivity, knowledge and help make a difference even in someone’s life. So! promote your work and when you do, make sure the content is of good quality.

If you find this post helpful, spread the word and share your thoughts in the comment section, I always reply!

Also please do check out my business page on IG to see the amazing work we’re currently doing.